Falcons rally late to win open

by Bob McPhee
     
     RUMFORD - It's never easy and the Mountain Valley baseball team bided its time and proceeded to take full advantage of the situation last Wednesday.
     The Mountain Valley offense had struggled early on, but managed to put the ball in play
     Highlighted by a suicide squeeze from Keith Brennick scored the eventual winning runs in a 6-4 triumph over Telstar in a season-opening game at Hosmer Field.
     The chilly conditions had prevented either offense from opening up and the Falcons scored all their runs in the fifth and sixth innings after taking full advantage of miscues. The Rebels defense was solid for four innings, however, five errors led to five unearned runs
     "A win is a win," Mountain Valley coach Steve LaPointe said. ''But, this was a typical high school game between teams trying to find themselves. (Telstar starter Kyle) Maines threw well and we could not hit off him until things went bad and (Maines) really deserved a better fate."
     Class B Mountain Valley (1-0) finally broke through to tie the score with two runs in the fifth inning on three errors. Garret McPherson raced home when Dean McCrillis grounder was thrown away and Brennick scored on Cameron Kaubris single.
     McPherson (third of four Falcon hurlers) earned the win after retiring the side in the sixth.
     ''It was shaky for a season opener," starting pitcher Matt Laubauskas said. ''We didn't look good early on until we started hitting the ball and then Garret McPherson came in and threw hard and for strikes."
     The Falcons grabbed the lead for good in the sixth when Matt Laubauskas (two hits) singled, stole second and raced home on Justin Staires' single beyond third base. Maines had jammed Staires, but the junior catcher out-muscled the pitch off the handle and scored on an error. Alex Gagnon reached on error and pinch-runner Tom Puiia and McPherson (single) each scored on Brennick bunt.
     "I'm really not that upset over how things went," Telstar coach Bob Remington said. "We had played well early on, but it came down a team that expected to win and one that tried holding on. The conditions (cold and windy) were horrendous for baseball and a play or two could have made the difference."
     Telstar had grabbed a 2-0 lead in the third on an RBI double by Gavin Broomhall and an Andy Whitney RBI-grounder. A leadoff single Mike Fleet (3-for-4, two runs) was the first Rebel hit against Mountain Valley in three years. The Falcons threw no-hitters in 2006 and 2007.
     Telstar scored two unearned runs in the seventh as the Falcons also made some mistakes behind reliever Connor Blais.